President Barack Obama: Approval rating drops among whites

September 06, 2009|By Peter Wallsten, Tribune Newspapers

WASHINGTON — After a summer of health care battles and sliding approval ratings for President Barack Obama, the White House is facing a troubling new trend: The voters losing faith in the president are the ones he had worked hardest to attract.

New surveys show steep declines in Obama's approval ratings among whites, including Democrats and independents, who were crucial elements of the diverse coalition that helped elect the country's first black president.

Among white Democrats, Obama's job approval rating has dropped 11 points since his 100-days mark in April, according to surveys by The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. It has dropped by nine points among white independents and whites older than 50, and by 12 points among white women -- all voter groups that will be targeted by both parties for support in next year's midterm elections.

"While Obama has a lock on African-Americans, his support among white voters seems to be almost in a free fall," said veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse.

Strategists in both parties blame Obama's decline on growing discontent with his policy agenda, particularly after a month of an often rowdy debate over his proposed health care overhaul, in which conservatives accused him of being a "socialist." It is likely Obama's ratings would rise again if he wins passage of health care legislation this fall.

But the drop in support among whites also comes as some conservatives have escalated their efforts to provoke and nurture controversies that have the potential to further erode Obama's standing among centrists.

Dominating conservative talk shows last week on the Fox News Channel were reports on Van Jones, Obama's green jobs czar, who as a San Francisco community activist signed onto conspiracy theories questioning whether the U.S. government played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Some conservatives are also raising questions about a White House dinner invitation to the lead lawyer in American Civil Liberties Union lawsuits that have forced the government to disclose Bush-era interrogation techniques. The lawyer was invited to an event for Ramadan, the Muslim holiday.

Even Obama's plan to address the nation's schoolchildren on Tuesday has prompted an outcry among conservative parents and GOP officials, who have accused the White House of trying to infuse "socialism" into the minds of young people.

Pew first identified a slippage in white support immediately following a news conference in July, when Obama said a white police officer acting "stupidly" in arresting a black Harvard professor.

Still unclear is whether Obama's slide in the polls is due solely to his policies, or whether questions about his personal background or allegiances have had an effect.

Surveys show that the vast majority of Americans like Obama personally, but that they are increasingly skeptical of policies that seem to expand the scope of government.

"We're having an economic culture war," Democratic pollster David Beattie said. "The criticisms of Obama are about the fundamental role of government in our economy."

Obama won a narrow majority of independents in last year's election, and the Pew numbers show that his approval rating among that group rose to 57 percent in April -- including half of white independents.

More than half of whites older than 50 approved of Obama's job performance in April. But now, after weeks of Republican accusations that the Democrats would seek to cut Medicare benefits as part of their health care overhaul, that number is just 43 percent.

"The back-breaker," said analyst David Wasserman, "is the independents and the seniors who are distrustful of Democrats' promises and assurances that Medicare won't be touched."

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Summer slide

Since the 100-day mark of his presidency, President Barack Obama has lost substantial support from some of the voters he had worked hardest to win over, among them white independents and Democrats.

Question: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president? %% Category April approval August approval